Posted on 05/15/2005 8:24:10 AM PDT by gopwinsin04
'The Force' ins't with President George W. Bush, as least as far as George Lucas is concerned.
The blogosphere has been abuzz for days with reports that Episode III contains several barely concealed digs at the Bush Administration.
In a much cited scene, Ewan McGregors Obi Wan Kenobi decares, 'Only a Sith Lord deals in absolutes,' after Hayden Chirstensen's Ankin Skywalker/Darth Vader character says, 'If you're not with me, you're my enemy,' an obvious reference to President Bush's statements regarding the war on terror.
As the Senate cedes power to Palpatine under the guise of 'intergalatic security,' Natalie Portman's Princess Padme Amidala exclaims bitterly, 'So this is how liberty dies-to thunderous applause.'
No surprisingly, right wing leaning cineaste critic Michael Medved says George Lucas' script shows just how liberal Hollywood political sensibilities can infect a mass market fantasy like 'Revenge of the Sith'.
'What's striking about the Bush digs is not that they are that important to the film, but that they are so unimportant to it.'
None of this stuff is probably worth getting worked up over, but it's just another indication of the obvious and underlying partisanship of the entertainment industry coming out in places where you would least expect it.'
In an interview with the Associated Press last week, Lucas claimed has was less insipred by the current political climate than by the Nixon and Vietnam era, how the French turned their backs on democracy to support Napoleon and how the Romans did the same thing with Caesar.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Considering how atrociously written and acted Episodes 1 & 2 have been, I think it's pretty clear that any pretensions Lucas may have had to storytelling genius have been thoroughly dispelled. I watch these films for the special effects only. The plot is completely incidental.
I am not sure how to post them but they are there.
I dont know about you, but if I were single, I wouldnt be kicking her out of bed, nor any of the others you listed either :)
I think the film franhise peaked with the two part Luke/Vader duel in Empire.
I finally got a chance to view CLONE WARS from start to finish as they aired it last night on the cartoon channel. Very well done IMHO.
I too also love the highly stylized SAMURAI JACK.
Portman was creepy enough, but little Ani hitting on Halle Berry? She's got to be what, 20 years older than him?
Medved isn't aware the Lucas isn't Hollywood.
I don't think we should slide into paranoia here. The examples cited are generic and it's a reach to make them a slam on Bush.
And my antenna are out big time for that kind of thing.
The title Queen of Naboo is like President of the US. No royalty.
Hey, sorry, but someone said this to me the other day when I came on a thread to announce how irritating and ridiculous it was.
Why are you here???
No offense, but the unmasking of Vader is SUPPOSED To be disappointing. No human(as evinced by the Emperor's lack of armor/mask) is going to WANT to be like that all the time. He is a damaged and not completely formed human.
Sebastian Shaw had one of the kindest, warmest faces(which you can see even in the makeup and definitely as he appears at the end as a ghost) and that hack Lucas edits him out of the DVDs for Hayden Christiansen.
You also must have missed Empire Strikes Back where Vader is in his meditation chamber and you see his helmet being put back on and you see a damaged and white head. pay more attention next time.
I agree on not killing the Emperor, but I think the idea is that Luke can't kill him out of anger/hatred and that Luke is actually already dangerously close to making a "bargain" to save his friends(and father) Any move to killing the Emperor draws HIM closer to merely replacing the Emperor(or Vader) It's not that killing the bad guy is always an evil act.
"If you want new ideas, read old books; if you want to be sold ideas, watch new movies."
NCLA, It sounds like you've done a great deal of work.
Bravo to you for that!
I think your questions posed in your post touch on the point I was trying to make, very well.
That being, simply put, if, as so many times we hear around here that there is such a great market for Conservative movies, why aren't there more being made?
It would be intellectually dishonest to say that there aren't a large amount of Conservative types with money, why then aren't they finacing films which further their point of view? They seem able enough to raise large sums of money to donate to Conservative Politicians and Conservative causes, which provide little, if any finacial gains from the initial investments.
As for your project, how much effort has been spent approaching big ticket investors? Do you have any "Name Talent" attached to your project? Who is your Director, and what A/B Titles has he/she directed?
A period piece as you've described would require a huge (epic?) level of costuming. Who is handling that? What A/B Titles has this person done?
Who is your Producer? Has he/she a tract record of bringing in a film, on time, on budget? Has he/she approached many big ticket investors, film bond companies, Name actors, etc. regarding this project?
Now the big questions. What is your "Above the Line" budget? What is your complete budget projection? Since you've done most of the pre work already, how is that going to affect the total budget? Anyone working on this at a spec level? Are they to be paid once actual release of the Production funds, or are they to be paid from profits (if any) from the final release? Do you have a Distribution contract with a company capable of handling your project? Are they helping with any seed money during Pre-Production?
What format are you planning on shooting this? Film (if so, which type, and why) or are you planning on going HD? (As a side question, if you're going the HD route, do you have personel onboard already with experience shooting HD, and handling HD Video Equipment?
You seem to indicate a "straight to DVD" release, have you made arrangements yet with a Post House to handle all you on-line and linear editing, as well as DVD Authoring, Production and delivery? Have you calculated all this into your budget projections?
Sorry if this is a tad long winded.
" ... is that Jar-Jar doesn't die a horrible dealth."
That's okay... he's only in two scenes and has no speaking parts.
" ... kingdom of heaven is a box office dog."
It'll make a profit with DVD sales and rental and pay channels.
I`m just going by this article saying Bush bashing was the intention of Lucas, and I wouldn`t doubt it being that he lives in a state that is pretty much the capital of liberalism in this country. I never said conservatives deal in absolutes, or are absolutely good. I said liberals deal in absolutes. They absolutely always 100% all the time side with murderers, rapist, mass killers, terrorists, tyrants etc etc etc etc.
"He's just pointing out that GL's politics have slipped in. And apparently Medved's comments are upsetting the Star Wars virgins-for-life fan club."
Medved obviously hasn't seen any of the SW movies. Politics plays a huge part in all of them.
Well said.
"Portman was creepy enough, but little Ani hitting on Halle Berry? She's got to be what, 20 years older than him?"
So what. If it was a man who was 20 years older than the woman, no one would blink an eye.
Don't you get tired of people who are probably obsessed with handicrafts, scrapbooking, cars or guns(though I am obsessed with guns too) that call other people nerds?
True, I only really dig the originals and I think they are our first global modern mythology, but at some point it gets a little played out.
Besides it wasn't until sometime after the first prequel that Star Wars fans were called nerds.
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